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THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

WITH A 

SHEAF OF SONNETS 



The Faith of Princes 

WITH A 

SHEAF OF SONNETS 



By HARVEY M. WATTS 




PHILADELPHIA 

THE JOHN C. WINSTON COMPANY 

MCMXV 



75 35*^ 



\'\ 



Copyright, 1915, by 
The John C. Winston Co. 



m 17 1915 
'CI,A40G335 



TO THE WAR LORD 

'^ Moil strum horrendiim, informe, ingenSy 
cui lumen ademptum.^' — Virgil, Aeneid, 
Book III. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



PAGE 



In Memoriam — Belgium 9 

To France 11 

To Italy 12 

To England 14 

Before Constantinople 15 

To Germany 16 

The Lusitania 18 

The Faith of Princes 23 



7] 



IN MEMORI AM— BELGIUM! 

"Louvain, Mechlin, Ypres, the ruined 
cities of Belgium, may not be rebuilt, but may 
be left as memorials of the German Inva- 
sion." 

LET these mute walls, lo, tell their 
tale, in stone, 
^ Of happy homes, now ruined, deso- 
late! 
So that all men may ponder o'er their fate 
And know the meaning of this people's 

moan, 
Whose ways of thrift, with brimming 

plenty strewn. 
Had conquered envy in their busy gate, 
With Brotherhood the chief concern of 

State 
And peace, the guiding star of all, alone! 
O ! lovely land, whose jocund bells, on high. 
For art and faith have oft rung holiday, 



[9] 



IN MEMORIAM BELGIUM! 

The world, enanguished, rises to thy need! 
Though prostrate, balm for every wound is 

nigh; 
Yea, from the shackles will thy sons be 

freed ; 
Vengeance is God's, He will in truth repay! 



10 



TO FRANCE! 



TO FRANCE! 

ROUSED from fair dreams of soft and 
silken ease, 
' Gird up thy loins, slough all things 
loose and light. 
Secure thy bounds where, ruthless, as a 

bhght. 
The invader, with his harsh realities. 
Pours men as sudden rush of angry seas, 
O'erwhelming all, in crude enmillioned 

might, 
Eclipsed the things of soul in sudden night, 
As nations drink of wrath the very lees! 
But lo! still beacon Chalons, where were 

stayed 
The Huns; Martel at Tours, the Paladins 
Of Charles the Great, Roland with horn and 

sword. 
And Jeanne at Rheims, erect and unafraid ! 
So purge ye then of free and casual sins. 
Rise and destroy the vast barbarian horde! 



[11] 



TO ITALY ! 



TO ITALY! 

"ia via di Roma e la minliore via; il 
cemento romano, e come sempre il piii forte.'* 
— Gabriele D'Annunzio. 

O GOLDEN land, where Tasso strung 
his lute 
And sung the shining heroes in 
Crusade, 
Where Petrarch's dalliances still pervade, 
And Dante's spirit triumphs o'er the brute 
In man and nature, Italy, refute 
Those tongues that rail ! 0, let the flashing 

blade 
Avenge thine honor, shun the poisoned 

shade. 
Nor in world counsels let thy voice be 

mute! 
Dowered with beauty, *neath the azure 

skies. 
Proud mistress of the middle seas and land, 



12 



TO Italy! 

Served by thy sons, Flamens of liberty, 
Seek ye the path where fateful duty lies. 
Wearing the helm of Rome, speak and 

command. 
In this new hour, thy crowning destiny ! 



[18] 



TO ENGLAND! 



TO ENGLAND! 

LAND of full-charted rights, whose 
greater sons 
"^ Have spread o'er earth due order and 
the law 
Of rule in reason, not of fang or claw. 
Nor brute on high as one man's whimsy 

runs. 
What is this newer doctrine, lo, that stuns, 
Turning to ages when men, hostile, saw 
Nothing in compacts but the easy flaw. 
And "writ in water," in the face of guns? 
England, as this horror threatens all, — 
This menace with its creed of curling lip 
O'er sacred bonds, as nobler states agree, — 
Thy glorious past, with tributes, we recall. 
Debtors indeed to thy great guardianship. 
For they that "keep the faith" make all 
men free! 



[14] 



BEFORE CONSTANTINOPLE 



BEFORE CONSTANTINOPLE 

i4 ND still the cry comes from the Asian 
/•\ vales, 

"^ -^ A cry long pent, freighted with 

woe of years 
Of cruelty enthroned; where, 'spite the 

tears, 
Grim massacre still reddens all the trails. 
And justice mocks with useless weighted 

scales. 
But hark ! the murmur of hoarse panic fears 
And sounds portentous, as the South wind 

veers. 
And, as the sullen roar of gun outrales. 
There sweeps, in majesty, to sudden flood. 
Vengeance delayed ! Across the watery lea. 
Nations in compact, freed from petty dross, 
Ask full requite, as all, in vision, see 
The baleful Crescent, dipt in sunset blood. 
Sinking before the splendor of the Cross! 



15 



TO GERMANY 



TO GERMANY! 



5'' I MS not alone the sober reign of law 
I That sinks to silence, silence of the 
"*" tombs, 

As fierce Bellona's murky torch illumes 
The nations, and the sable curtains draw 
O'er hideous scenes; humanity in raw 
Mad for the tribute, in the gathering 

glooms. 
At Moloch's shrine, whose fiery breath con- 
sumes 
All things loved best, in huge insatiate maw ! 

Why shriek ye, then, on street, the furious 

will 
Of despot kings? why boast of battled 

might. 
Greeting War's chariot with exultant breath? 
Through flames attend, as ministers of ill, 
'Tis not the Car of Progress, Car of Light, 
O, bhnd! but lo the Juggernaut of Death! 



[16] 



TO GERM A NY ! 



II 

Indeed for long the world, with eyes aflame. 
Had yearned that men in making, loosed 

from strife, 
Under more halcyon skies, with freedom 

rife. 
Might find for kindred arts more glorious 

name; 
Worthy of letters the undying fame 
Of peaceful ways : But lo, the shriek of fife. 
The war-drum's rattle, and the knife to 

knife, 
And hopes of years die in the wild acclaim! 
Prone all that work achieved within this 

moil; 
And those who braved life's ever roughening 

steep. 
Are one with Prince and Peasant 'neath the 

sod. 
What bitter end for sacrificing toil, 
What ruin in this universal sweep; 
The melting pot of Satan, not of God! 



117] 



THE LUSITANIA 



THE LUSITANIA 

*^ Women and children first!'* 

WHO loosed this terror of the hidden 
deep. 
Dastards that strike where none 
have raised a hand? 
Whose was the word that gave the foul 

command, 
The heart that knows no pity, but would 

sweep 
All, all before as refuse, and would steep 
All souls in hatred through the servile land? 
Enthroning craft, all things of honor 

banned. 
Whose is the sowing where but Death may 
reap? 

Monster! who wars on helpless innocence, 
Blind and insensate is thy lust for power, 
Already have the Fates set out thy name! 



[181 



THE LUSITANIA 



Add to thy laurels, shrink from no offense, 
Let all the flags proclaim thy hectic hour; 
Aye, share with Herod his appointed 
shame ! 



19 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 



Put not your trust in Princes! 

—Psalm CXLVI, 3. 



" Therefore a prince, so long as he keeps 
the subject united and loyal, ought not to 
mind the reproach of cruelty. 

V *P •F "F n" 

*' Nevertheless our experience has been that 
those princes who have done great things have 
held good faith of little account, and have 
known how to circumvent the intellect of men 
by craft and in the end have overcome those 
who have relied on their word. 

4e ^ 4: 4: ^ 

** Thereupon he promoted Ramiro d'Orco, 
a swift and cruel man, to whom he gave the 
fullest power. And because he knew that the 
past severity had caused some hatred against 
himself, so, to clear himself in the minds of 
the people and gain them entirely to himself. 



[23] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

he desired to show that if any cruelty had been 
practised it had not originated with hiiUi but 
in the natural sternness of the minister. 
Under this pretense he took Ramiro, and one 
morning caused him to be executed and left 
on the piazza at Cesena with a block and a 
bloody knife at his side. The barbarity of 
this spectacle caused the people at once to be 
satisfied and dismayed.'' 

From " The Prince y' By Niccolo Machia- 
velli. 



"Finally the relations between two States 
must often be termed a latent war. Such a po- 
sition justifies the employment of HOSTILE 
METHODS, CUNNING AND DECEP- 
TION, JUST AS WAR ITSELF DOES.'' 

From "Germany and the Next War," Page 
J,.9, Chapter 2, "The Duty to Make War." 
By General Friedrich Von Bernhardi. 



[24] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

PROLOGUE 

(In Maniera Inglese Settecento) 
STROPHE 

"rTpHE Faith of Princes!" What is 
I that you say, 

When faith is broken by them 

every day? 

Words rise to Hps but to conceal the thought, 

And sacred promises are counted naught: 

The while their Armies loot and burn and 

kill. 
And millions serve to do their evil will. — 
'The Faith of Princes!" As the cup it 

quaffs 
In bitterness, the world, despairing, laughs! 



ANTISTROPHE 

"nrNHE Faith of Princes!" You shall 
see its past; 
Well, as it was, it still is to the last. 
What Borgia did and Machiavell approved. 



[25] 



X 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

The habit, custom, all so smoothy grooved, 
That Hapsburg-HohenzoUern but repeat 
What Guelph and Ghibelline considered 

neat; 
And treachery, as order of the day, 
Still keeps in statecraft its appointed way! 



26 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

(An Apologue for the times, being the 
soliloquy of the Duke of Urhino, Cesare 
Borgia^ on the eve of ordering the execution of 
his creature, Ramiro d'Orco, at Cesena, and 
being, also, a gloss, for this year of grace 
1915, on " The Prince,'' by Niccolo Machia- 
velli.) 

Scene: The main apartment of the palazzo, 
in Cesena, looking south on the piazzetta, 
which is flooded with moonlight, with the 
Duomo on the right. Borgia is at the win- 
dow looking out on the square. In the 
apartment a tall candle flares in the breeze 
and gives a fitful light. Time: Midnight. 

THE moon is south, just at meridian, 
The watchman's shadow trails a 
gibbet length 
As alley-ward he slinks; the town's asleep, 
Though I am here, they cannot always ward 



27 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

And nature takes its toll as I, as I 

In civil life, in palaces, at large. 

Where men in arms kill as it pleases me. 

Would that my enemies were, eke, so still 

And that the stillness, as from poison 

draught. 
Kept on, and, lo, their night were without 

end! 
To him who wished Rome had a single 

neck, 
Which he could sever with an even stroke, 
I give the hand; then mastery were mine 
Where rebels, many -headed, flout my will. 
Or, that, like Nero, in a scuttled ship, 
I would I might drown all, women and 

men. 
And rid myself with ease of those opposed! 
But here Cesena at my nod seems true. 
Though, since the murmurs rise in sullen 

tide, 
I fain must hold them with a sacrifice. 
And grant a favor to compel a fear! 
No loss to me; Ramiro is the man. 



28 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

I'll let his death set out my policy, 
So they who run may read his testament, 
No better text than sudden death, I'm sure, 
To teach the vulgar what their proper place. 
In media vita — mors! That strikes the 

heart 
And pales the fro ward who foresee their end ! 
If I were learned in words, hke Cicero, 
My "De Terrore" would affright the ear; 
Like El Cid's name stampede with horror 

all! 

He i): :): % #! 

AND what my policy? 'Tis simply writ; 
. Force, fraud and guile, an equal 
trinity, — 
Yet ever fair the seeming of my words, 
My liturgy, humility and peace 
With credo breathing ever noble things. 
Sweet discant for my hidden plots of war; 
As, in the Mass, the Kyrie sounds aloud 
In counterpoint to tune of ribald song: 
The words are holy but the burden vile, 
A fashion out of France as suits their way. 



29] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

Perfected by the Flemish choristers, 

Till one is wise who knows aught what is 

sung. 
Yea, I am Janus-like, two things at once. 
My kind intent a silken glove that hides 
A hand that crushes in its grasp of steel; 
A smile, my mask, that keeps the auditors. 
The while I grit in rage behind its screen; 
As one who springs the trap, with gate well 

locked. 
On guest within for whom the farce was 

played 
Of ready welcome 'neath the barbican. 
And gracious leads him to prepared doom. 

* 4: ^ 4: 4: 

ROMAGNA is against me! Snarl, ye 
curs. 
Who licked my hands and groveled 
at my feet 
And begged the crumbs from off my ample 

board ! 
Crumbs that in proper mixtures have 
dispatched 



30] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

Their craven souls to far Avernian shores! 
I, still the master of my life and fate, 
Will rid myself of all the bonds that clog. 
Whatever the whine of blood, or cry of kin. 
Above the common rule I wreak my wrath; 
None stand in Borgia's way, no more than 

Jove's. 
If brother pleaded with me but in vain 
What of Ramiro? Shall I halt my hand 
And let the jackal sneak across my path? 
Is Borgia weakling that he dare not glut 
His vengeance when it serves the cause of 

state .f* 
I'll have his Ufe at dawn; the dead say 

naught; 
If otherwise, a Pentecost, my life. 
Free "giftof tongues," wagging in bitter tale, 
A screaming Babel that would never cease. 

4: 4: « * « 

BUT we who walk above the common 
plane 
Find plenary excuse for what we will. 
With me 'tis "in excelsis," am I not 



[31] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

Of Rome, escutcheons be devised as may, 
Once Cardinal and son to him who stands 
Vice-gerent of the Throne of Heaven, 

serene ! 
Thus cousin german to our Lord on High, 
And in this cousinship, myself and God, 
Find all that justifies my ways with 

men. 
Aye, ego Dominusque, phrase most apt. 
Fit for the Gonfaloniere, that I am. 
This antic thought just suits my twisted 

mood, 
A seal for Borgia in unique design, 
His apotheosis in Roman style. 
The human bulking large as the divine, 
As when Mantegna paints Our Patroness, 
Our Lady, with the donors equal size. 
Who crowd her with the saints on either 

side; 
So I, with God, my powers delegate, 
Decree my will as fiat from above, 
My right divine in great and lesser things. 
Ha, ha! the fantasy, as moonlight streams 



32 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

In weird half-lights within the room, 

transports ! 
The thing is well invent, I'll bruit it forth 
That Borgia walks with God on battlefield 
As well as when he served within the rail. 
Myself am then supreme, my will the law, 
No mentor stirs remorse, nor curses move. 
So ego Dominusque let it be, 
Interpreter of Heaven as well as Hell 
Whose seven circles groan with those I've 

sent. 
Throat-slit to serve its ghastly rims and 

Dis. 
I judge the quick, leave to Our Lord the 

dead; 
A slight division in the partnership. 
In matters earthy giving me the gauge. 
With victories just as my chaplain prays. 
For if one spare the loathsome brood of hate. 
They turn and trip just as the road seems 

safe, 
Confound your counsels. No, be merciless. 
And crush your enemies beneath your feet. 



33 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

Scrape tablets to the grain for new design. 
The merciful but builds a bulwark, huge, 
To house the enemy and feed his pride. 
The wholesome fear of rulers, that I seek. 
Secured, it equalizes small and great. 
Strike down, and keep on striking, that's 
my rule! 

* * * * 

NO, no, my method's sound, infallible. 
My ex-cathedra judgment never errs. 
The Sforzas know what is my guiding star. 
My compass o'er the troubled sea of power, 
Bologna feels my lash, Ravenna kneels 
And Sinigaglia sees the harvesting, 
O'er-ripe her heads and heavy, but they fall. 
And I have made their fields and towns a 

waste. 
As tributes to a Borgia's dream of peace. 
Which finds sweet incense as the cities 

smoke! 
No half-way measures, leaving open sores; 
No, cauterized and calcinate they lie 
Open to new endeavors at my wish. 



[34] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

Life at my bidding, creatures of my hand! 
If ruins crowd my steps, I'll build anew 
And raise e'en fairer structures in their 

place. 
As in the body, so, in public things. 
Blood letting purifies the humors pent. 
The sluggish, thickened ichors that obstruct. 
So let it flow, this is my remedy. 
In proper channels and your rule is sure; 
A fair specific that great captains know, 
A primal law of statecraft from the first. 
I know each movement in this game of 

blood. 
None have surpassed me in the open dare. 
Where I risk all upon the single throw. 
And so I keep my sword all free from rust 
By constant usage seeking my desire, 
And let it parley in the protocols. — 
The faith of princes! it looks well in peace 
But in the grind of war wears somewhat thin 
And turns to common dust as do we all. 
But I, per Corpo, am its servitor 
When serving yields results; the master, I, 



35 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

When double dealing needs the firmer grip. 
Though black and grisly, hidden in the 

dark, 
Lo, whatsoe'er the deed, my port is fair. 
E'er fair in public every move and mien. 
The verb dissimulate I know by heart, 
Its moods and tenses are my counsellors. 
Plot evil but let cloying honey drip 
In cunning from your lips, for words are 

cheap. 
And smiles mere surface wrinkles of the 

skin; 
My practice, ever as the circumstance. 
And circumstance as I, alone, may fix 
With plot and counterplot and constant 

fraud. 
The fox brain with the lion's heart my cue. 

BUT why do I run o'er these things in 
mind.'' 
Ramiro's fate I am determined on. 
But, ah! he speaks of promises, my word. 
My guarantees set out by scrivener. 



36 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

My oath, my bond; all naught, the thing is 

clear, 
He falls, or I face sullen discontent. 
Before my safety what are all these vows? 
Is this my first essay in broken faith? 
Why, in my 'teens as whilom priest I 

thrived 
On shattered pledges, raised myself in 

power 
Upon the sherds of those who aimed at 

state. 
And why should I then in this broader 

sphere 
Play white when all my compeers stalk in 

black. 
Birds of one color and of one intent? 
Of course they'll prattle with Ramiro gone 
As those at Forli and Urbino, too. 
They'll cry against me, scream of treaties 

'nulled, 
The violation of the spoken word, 
Disloyalty to written things, the fools! 
Whose partisans lie close in battle trench. 



37 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

Unlovely corses all so neatly slain, 

And yet I would 'twere easier, this game; 

The after toils of battles irk me sore. 

I would I warred in Flanders ; like a board 

The land, all flat, reticulate with roads, 

Your progress easy if the people will. 

But if resistance comes, the devil's loose, 

For even haughty Burgundy recoils 

Before the Belgae, feared of Rome of old, 

And Hapsburg finds no comfort in his 

fief. 
And yet there's much to give you recom- 
pense. 
For in the loamy soil, all water-soaked, 
Graves make themselves, no flinty rocks to 

break. 
As in these stony wastes of Tuscany, 
Where nature fights as if in duty bound 
To save her sons within their eyries hid. 
Yet I have dashed them from the battle- 
ments 
Have hurled them o'er the bastions raised on 
high. 



[38] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

And let them bleach upon the sunburnt 
ramps. 

For what are oaths when Fortune threatens 
death, 

And Mars, defeat, upon a stricken field? 

And might makes right, since Michael with 
his hosts 

From out the gates of Heaven drave Lu- 
cifer, 

And sent him hurtling to the nether deeps ! 
***** 

I WOULD that Caesar, of the Julian gens. 
Had let his cloak, Elijah-like, alight 
Upon my shoulders; that his heritage 
Of spirit and of valor were mine own; 
I'd celebrate a holiday in field. 
Fire all the brassy culverins at once 
And make a battue of the enemy, — 
But Caesar's not upon the calendar. 
His miracles of captainship are naught. 
Nor make for saintship in St. Peter's nave — 
But in mine eyes his head is halo-crowned. 
I hold, with him, no argument in war. 



39 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

Let words like laws be silent as arms clash 
And swiftest action do its perfect work ! 
His "Veni, vidi, vici" sets the pace, 
Aye, would our common tongue were so 

compressed; 
His way's the only way for men of force, 
Yourself your Fate, and, likewise. Destiny, 
These are the rules of war I understand. 
And not o'er fair my application sure. 
With breach and strict observance as is fit. 
The rules that spell one word, 'tis "victory." 
The art of war's a trade, an industry. 
Which, God my Judge, few ply so well as I. 
As for the artifice 'tis passing old; 
Like Cadmus, sow the dragon teeth of 

strife 
Of race, religion, then await your chance; 
For 'tis not all a thing of blood and iron, 
So many bodies and equipments bought 
From hired bullies coming from afar; 
No, no, give me rallying cause and, lo. 
Dull hearts inflame, dull eyes suffuse with 

wrath, 



[40] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

As Guelph and Ghibelline they fly to arms 

And cut each other's throats with equal ease, 

Just "ad majorem Dei gloriam," 

And, for the pleasure of the reigning prince ! 

Fools, fools ! And so my levies do my will, 

The heavier battalions sweep the field, 

My larger cannon win the smiles of Heaven; 

Or, else, the weak, with itching palm, I buy 

And win the battle ere it comes to pass. 

For all things yield at once to yellow gold, 

Like Jericho, the city walls collapse 

And gates spring open at its magic touch. 

The warder hands the keys of untouched 

keep; 

If otherwise, I starve them to the end, 

Their stubbornness but serves my purposes, 

And, Victor, find a charnel house my prize, 

But that 'tis mine stirs to the very soul. 
^ ^ ^ * ^ 

THEY'D talk of faith of princes with 
me, well! 
I'll face them though it makes for instant 
mirth. 



[41] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

For what are words indeed! mere breath 

of air, 
That's sweet or foul as comes by birth or 

health, 
No more; all trifles, thistledown in weight 
Against the needs of empire and my will. 
And so Ramiro cries in vain to me, 
My ears are clogged ! Alive he's in my way. 
My place within the sun of sure success. 
Yet 'tis not I, but dire necessity — 
For are we not the playthings of grim fate — 
That crushes to the dust, and yet he talks 
Of parchments, papers, merest tags and rags ! 
What's parchment but the beaten skin of 

sheep? 
And what's the quill but pinion of a goose.'' 
And what is ink but gall and tincture .^^ Bah! 
And what the combination? Written 

words ! 
As for the scribblings, they are waste and 

vain. 
Mere hieroglyphics scratched upon a reed ; 
Two meanings to each text as clerks dispute. 



42] 



THE FAITH OF PKINCES 

Two views secured at cost of lawyer's fee. 
Well, place them in the balance with my 

sword 
And which is heavier as the scale descends? 
'Tis infant babble this of promises! 
Expediency my only norm, what else 
Can princes do? The means I make and 

mould 
And shape them to their full finality. 
This is the test, what's mediate is naught 
But as it yields results ; the end, the end ! 
For me, one end, dominion over all, 
My place, then, in the sun and at my ease, 
Romagna's master and then — Italy! 
The past is gone, I'll let its poison soak 
And in some sour Epistle tell its tale. 
My Gospel? — well! 'tis not a duplicate 
Of that the shepherds heard, but manners 

change 
And we change with them; each one to his 

trade ! 
They'll know the facts, when my Te Deum's 

sung 



43 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

And Jubilate sounds for cities ta'en, 
As Nunc Dimittis came to Capua 
All calculate to very nicety. 
Quick Benedictus for unshriven souls 
Who found too soon, for them, the ready 

pall! 
A Missa sicca, dry as dust, I'll serve 
And for good measure, add a Requiem. 
Of course, " In Terra Pax," but on my terms, 
Let God get his accounts as best He can ! 
I gather mine with every flashing blade. — 
''Hominibus bonae volunt," — that's the cry; 
But whose "good-will" I never leave to 

chance. 
And, as for perfect peace, there's Tacitus 
Who lays the proper maxim for us all; 
"Qui solitudinem et faciunt 
Appellant pacem;" that's the surest way; 
Make peace that's lasting, for one starts 

afresh 
Where dead ne'er carry tales, nor fight 

again ! 



44 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

I MUST not see Ramiro, he would plead 
Holding my knees for respite e'er so 
brief, 
For thus men cling to life down to its dregs, 
E'en if it slobbers to a senile close, 
And for it sacrifice their very all. 
I am not more than men in this, nor hold 
Myself above their instincts animal. 
But I must check my feelings lest I fall. 
Nor will I harken if his women cry 
"Have mercy on our house and save our 

Lord." 
The jades! Lucrezia sums them up for me 
In witty narrative of things at court. 
I like her quips, she spares none in her jests 
And knows their every wile and artifice. 
And, of necessity, if she would lead 
And hold her own where feline manners 

rule. 
Yea, stripped or clothed, in mind or body 

bare. 
They play their part before my searching 

eyes — 



45] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

The lure of flesh? — that's for the soldier 

crew 
Who stay their rapine for a well-turned arm, 
No loose impedimenta in my camp 
For me! I know when dalliance destroys. 
And what one pays for smirks or welling 

tears, 
Or shrill abuse, the privilege of their sex. 
The chief est weapon in their battery, 
Where weakness serves as easy citadel. 
All "honest women and from Corinth too," 
As one would say with Aristophanes ! 
Who win their praise, win little else I wot; 
Who hold their love, will hold no treasure 

long, 
'Tis, "odium figulinum" with them all; 
"Trade jealousy," the motive that controls. 
St. Paul's monition I would e'er apply 
In private and in public as in church. 
And keep the Salic law as daily rule. 
But give them freedom in the couching 

room. 
For war needs cradles quite as well as guns ! 



;46j 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

As for their interference, bah, 'tis naught, 
I'll clap a plaster on their screaming 

mouths — 
A cincture, not of chastity — but — wait! 

I'LL have my will, Cesena must be heard. 
The people plot, who were my sole 

support 
And helped my fortunes, 'gainst my creature 

here. 
The man is cruel! I must seem more kind; 
The man is bestial; I must be the prince; 
He, avaricious ; I must spendthrift be ! 
For all his fawning favors he must die ! 
Or else that he is I and I am he 
Will worm in easy logic through the mob 
And on my hands will be his stigmata. 
His crime spills o'er and spatters me aloof. 
The people pierce the thin disguise that 

cloaks. 
In stewardship my policy of hate. 
And I am suspect through his fealty. 
Perchance in cups the fool has babbled, too, 



[47] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

"I do this not by nature, but, my friends. 
As Borgia orders from his castle keep." 
And so I meet with looks avert and dour 
And catch the fingers crossed against my 

glance. 
This must not be! Ramiro's day is done. 
The "evening and the morning" wind it up: 
(I quote me Scripture for a trifling deed). 
And since he is the creature of my whim, 
The cat's paw cannot blame a change of 

mind; 
Nor weather vane find fault with any breeze. 
For those who act as procurators know 
Th' attainder's on their heads with no 

escape. 

They serve me at their peril, well or ill! 
***** 

{Looks out on the square, studying the 
Cathedral and its architectural details.) 

IN this soft light the door seems rather 
fine, 
A hint of Donatello in the Christ, 



48] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

The dome would almost pass for Florentine. 
I owe a chapel and an altarpiece. 
I'll have Bramante try his New World gold 
As in Maria Maggiore's coffered vault, 
And ask Buonarroti for his help 
In something fine, a Pieta in small; 
A devotee, as I, of things antique. 
His style quite lately fooled the cardinal; 
Not me; I know the 'prentice hand in art. 
Though w^hen 'tis Rafaello's, well, beware! 
I would his master Perugino came. 
Or, better, Pinturicchio, who serves 
The Pope, and well at that, in Vatican, 
Where walls, once bare, now glow in magery 
And fields in flower and ways of men, set out. 
Tell pleasant histories through Mistress Art. 
As does Lucrezia I would worship, too. 
Before the shrine of beauty and of love, 
But all these chamber manners murder 

time. 
And now my tasks compel to other ways. 
Enough! my orders — lest the man escape; 
The very walls do carry news of me ! 



[49] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

At once! at once! 

(Claps his hands and calls his secretaries.) 
The captain and the guard! 

(The captain enters with the palace guard.) 

MY captain! nearer to the arras, so; 
I speak in underbreath, the matter 
grave, 
'Tween me and thee these prefaces must 

lie 
A subject privy. Know ye then my will. 
Ramiro, he my agent here must die. 
Profaner of my counsels, he exceeds 
His due authority and has served me ill. 
The people groan beneath his yoke and I, 
Well, I, as saviour, hasten to relieve. 
Once more in seeming prove their patron 

saint. — 
He is to die at dawn. Not secretly. 
But as a fresh exemplar of my rule; 
In raising hopes I would not quell their 

fears, 
And by his course would indicate my mind. 



[50] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

As sharp a hint as oft at Lenten tide 

His grace, my fief, bawls out from yonder 

porch. 
Down there, before the steps, where roads 

cut o'er 
The piazzetta, set the headsman's block. 
Then fetch Ramiro loaded well with chains. 
Gyves at the wrist and ankles cutting flesh. 
And all a-tremble from the rack whose twist 
Should make him eloquent and babbler, bah. 
Behead him! sharp the stroke at flush of 

dawn. 
Then let the town, astir to catch the news. 
Come tumbling through its narrow lanes to 

church 
And sight the spectacle. The corse exposed, 
The head on stake, set firmly in the pave. 
And block and dripping sword in ruddy 

pool. 
For I would have them whisper "Who is 

next? 
Beseems that none is mightier than the 

Duke." 



[51] 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

Would have them know that Borgia rules, 

alone ! 
Let them to Mass and shrive themselves 

at once! 
Vengeance is mine, I shall repay on earth. 
So render unto Caesar all his dues. 
Since judgment notes from Heaven may be 

delayed, 
With God I'll sit more firmly here. Obey! 
{The captain and the guard retire. Borgia 
looks once more out on the square, and, smiling 
sardonically, blows out the candle, and turns 
to his cabinet.) 

ZEUGMA 

And so it came to pass: Cesena saw 
And all the world has gazed in horror since, 
And set the Borgia on a pedestal 
Of deepest obloquy, shame black as night, 
Nor lets the scrivener escape his fate. 
Himself involved as bye-word for all ill, 
A hissing on the lips of history! 



[521 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 



EPILOGUE 

STROPHE 

44rTpHE Faith of Princes!" Why not 
I utter rout 

"*■ For such a system as the facts set 
out? 
Why prate to-day of rights of kings, divine. 
When kaisers yield advantage to the swine. 
And epileptics claim by right of birth 
Full homage, where the proper thing is 

mirth 
For those whose acts savor of ways insane, 
The while they rule as despots, free of 
rein? 

ANTISTROPHE 

Urr^HE Faith of Princes!" To the 

I limbo then 

"^ Of useless lumber, in an age of 
men, 
With all that fllunkyism with its bays 



53 



THE FAITH OF PRINCES 

Would still exact with honeyed overpraise! 
Away with kingcraft, which, to sound 

axiacK, 
With lese majeste would answer back! 
Supplant the "Faith of Princes" — hellish 

joke! — 
With "faith of peoples" freed from every 

yoke! 



[54] 

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